In discussing the Right, the Left, and the Anas, Hunter begins his next chapter by noting the fact that “the three competing myths discussed here, and the political theologies that derive from them, are all held passionately by people of the same faith community” (p. 176). But in doing this, Hunter does something else that …
As In, Knock It Off
In his next chapter, Hunter wraps up his round up of the three major groups he has been discussing — the Christian Right, the Christian Left, and the neo-Anabaptists. As before, he considers them all to have been tragically politicized, but he clumps the Right and Left together, and sets the Anabaptists off to the …
Your Aunt Myrtle’s Goldfish Bowl
Hunter’s next chapter is his review of the neo-Anabaptists. As with the previous two chapters, Hunter spends the bulk of his chapter simply summarizing the outook of the position he is discussing. Unlike the previous two chapters, it is much more difficult to tell where that position leaves off and Hunter picks up. Hunter is …
What the Two Kingdoms Are Not
As I have been writing on political dualism, I have been periodically asked about my take on VanDrunen’s work. My copy of that work is presumably still in the mail, but here is a very important critique to tide you over
Boy, Howdy
Hunter follows his chapter on the Christian Right with a chapter on the Christian Left. As with the previous chapter, this one is mostly overview of the players and positions, and it is a helpful overview. While there is a temptation to dash off to engage with some silly thing or other that Jim Wallis …
Only a Republican Would Oppose Molech Worship
This will be a relatively short post, even though it deals with James Davison Hunter’s chapter on the Christian Right. This is because the chapter is simply a broad overview of the Christian Right’s take on what has happened to America, and what they want to do about it. For the most part, I found …
Look at All Those Alabaster Cities
In his most recent book, R. Emmett Tyrrell points out that the American conservative movement that grew up after the Second World War was a fusionist movement — a coalition of small government libertarians, anti-Communists, and traditionalists. As it happened, I was (and am) all three of those, and so I fit right in. But …
Obama Rides a Dragon While Waving His Cowboy Hat
The second section of Hunter’s book To Change the World begins with a very short chapter, so I will consider it and the following chapter together. I want to begin by differing with what I believe to be a premature assessment, one that I commented on earlier. “As we have seen, though, Christians have embraced …
Hard to Climb a Hill and Not Look Down
Chapter 7 is a very brief conclusion to the first section of Hunter’s book. Hunter sets up a very helpful discussion of the tension that exists between the fact that change is accomplished by elites, and the fact that the spirit of the gospel prohibits an attitude of elitism. “This is why elitism — a …
Thunder, Lightning, and Blue Ruin
The next chapter of James Davison Hunter’s book To Change the World is like the previous chapters — full of good and true information, but to what end? The same data does different things in differing eschatological paradigms. A postmill guy like me takes it as a prophetic given that the gospel has been transforming …